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Systemdynamikk
Open Lecture

What's the Value Added by System Dynamics?

On the occasion of his retirement from UiB, professor David Wheat will give an open lecture on the value added by system dynamics.

David Wheat
David Wheat, Professor in System Dynamics.
Foto/ill.:
David Wheat

Hovedinnhold

What’s the value added by system dynamics? It’s not just the ability to simulate, since computer simulation is no longer unique to SD models.  And it’s not just the particular quantitative approach; other dynamic modeling methods use similar math.  And—drum roll—it’s not just the stocks, flows, and feedback loops; although their symbolic representation energizes the endogenous perspective that defines SD.

In this lecture, I will argue that SD’s value added stems from its contribution to methods of theory building and theory testing—methods for understanding the behavior of complex systems and designing new policy options.  SD is a unique method of scientific and policy inquiry.

David Wheat

Professor Wheat is retiring from the University of Bergen this semester and will reside in Colorado in 2018.  But his system dynamics work at UiB will continue. Two of his courses will be offered online, and he will continue managing two UiB projects in Ukraine and the United States.  Plus, his SD-based economic research and teaching will continue in Lithuania, Ukraine, and the U.S.